Thursday, October 1, 2009

IF MOSES WERE ALIVE TODAY...


"The role of the journalist in America is to harass money and power on behalf of the American taxpayer, as, historically, when money and power are able to operate without public accountability, they steal all the money. The only way you keep those with money and power from stealing everybody else's money is by harassing them to no end, every day, day after day, and ask them intelligent questions and ask them as to why they are doing what they are doing."

- Dylan Ratigan, MSNBC -


We have recently emerged from Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days for Jews; a day of atonement and recompense, and we are on the verge of yet another Jewish (Saturday) and Christian (Sunday) Sabbath, so I thought it fitting to produce this post at this time. Agnostics and atheists, please bear with me. You may even find SOMETHING you can appreciate in this post.

Christians and Jews both believe that God gave Moses a set of Ten Commandments for humankind to follow many years ago. If Moses were alive today, he would undoubtedly be more sophisticated and developed a person than those alive in his actual time period thousands of years beforehand were. So naturally, upon his descent from a modern-day mountain, his arms would be laden with a more sophisticated and developed Ten Commandmebts, which I believe would consist of something like this...

1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have false gods before me.
That's right: don't worship money, posessions, status, fame, sports figures, rock stars, earthly rulers, or idols. Stick with the Real Thing!

2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Don't use the Lord's name in a profane manner, and don't wrap yourself in Him for the purpose of justifying war or advancing your favorite politocal party. While you're at it, read Matthew 25: 34-46.

3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath.
Take a day off to think of and worship your Lord, and don't forget to think about how your actions have impacted those around you.

4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
Children: mind your parents. Adults: remember the lessons your parents taught you, and abide by them.

5. Thou shalt not kill.
Do not take the life of another, be it in sport, war, or for punishment. Do not have abortions as matters of convenience or economy, or solely to avoid embarrassment.


6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Do not engage in sex with another's partner, wife, or husband. This means DON'T HAVE AFFAIRS!

7. Thou shalt not steal.
Don't take that which isn't yours. Don't pad your work hours or cheat on your taxes. Don't exploit others for your own gain. Don't overcharge. Don't underpay. THIS MEANS YOU, HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES, BANKS, PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES, AND OTHER CORPORATIONS AS WELL AS ALL WORKERS!

8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Don't lie, especially about or to thers. THIS MEANS YOU, RUSH LIMBAUGH, GLENN BECK, ANN COULTER, MICHELLE MALKIN, SEAN HANNITY, BILL O'REILLY, SARAH PALIN, MICHELE BACHMANN, BILL CLINTON, MICHAEL SAVAGE, JOHN BOEHNER, ERIC CANTOR, JIM DeMINT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, LOU DOBBS, KIM IL SUNG, DICK CHENEY, LIZ CHENEY, DONALD RUMSFELD, GEORGE W. BUSH, WILLIAM JEFFERSON, hyperbolic Democratic and Republican operatives, and all other dishonest pundits, politicians, criminals, and everybody else.

9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
Don;t lust after or mess with another person's partner; do not break up another person's family or house.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
Don't lust after other people's possessions; forget about keeping up with the Joneses; and don't chase status symbols or be vain or proud.

14 comments:

mud_rake said...

"Christians and Jews both believe that God gave Moses a set of Ten Commandments for humankind to follow many years ago."

Nice story, but I doubt the event ever happened. It was a clever way of instilling important social values into society, but it smells of mythology and fantasy.

By the way, did Moses 'get' them from the 'good' or 'vengeful' god? I'm always confused with the two 'gods' of the Jewish Bible. Either there were two competing forces, Star Wars-style, or that 'god' was bipolar.

If there were two, that blows a rather large hole in the 'monolithic deity theory' and if there were only one, them we're dealing with a mentally ill deity.

By the way, why were commandments 1, 2 and 3 all about placating and worshiping 'god' as if 'god' needed supplication otherwise 'he' would get mad and, say, flood the entire earth in vengeance?

Jack Jodell said...

I can't say which God gave Moses the commandments, but it is certain that it wasn't the "supply side Jesus" so many conservative Republicans love to parade around with! :)

Unknown said...

Hey Jack! Happy weekend coming...
I don't know if Dylan R remembered the power of Hearst when he said that... still; it's the point.

I applaud your theme here... and the ideal of it. Now I will remain a courteous lady and step away from the mic...LOL!
As always, your mind & heart are true!

Mike said...

I appreciate this post, Jack, for what it is: a call for morality. No matter what one thinks of the Moses story, the Book of Exodus, or the entire Old Testament and its veracity, there's no arguing against the need and imperative for all of us to treat each other well and care about the plight of our less fortunate.

Anyway, here's Christopher Hitchens's take on the Commandments: Dump the Ten Commandments. (I know, Hitchens can be a complete ass. But in this case I'd say his reasoning is spot-on.)

TomCat said...

Ok... Don't covet my neighbors wife. And don't covet my neighbor's ass. Hmmmm.... I guess that means my neighbor's wife's ass is out too, huh? ;-)

Jack Jodell said...

@Gwendolyn,
Thanks, my good lady. I think you read me right. As far as the Hearst press guys, I think it would be safe to say he was the Rupert Murdoch of his time: conservative, irresponsible, and militaristic.
----------
@Stimpson,
Thanks for understanding as you did what I was presenting here: not only a call for morality but an end to social/economic conservative hypocrisy. That Hitchens piece was interesting. My only comment would be that it seems he was judging the commandments from a 21st century perspective, whereas they were initially created for the far less complex or developed Israelite of thousands of years ago...
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@TomCat,
LOL! You nasty boy! :)

SJ said...

@Jack,
I dig that Ratigan quote. I wish more journalists saw their responsibilities his way. Unfortunately he seems in the minority on Broadcast news.
-SJ

Jack Jodell said...

SJ,
Let's hope that he and Alan Grayson will start a new trend that will catch on like wildfire!

Max's Dad said...

I loved George Carlin's compression of the 10 into 2 or 3. Personally there's only one "commandment" I make an effort to abide by. Treat Others as you would like to be treated. Everybody does that and the world changes overnight.

TomCat said...

Not really, Mike, but I have to protect my Kitty rep! ;-)

Jack Jodell said...

Max's Dad,
That's a very good commandment to follow, because it covers a multitude of others. You're a good man!

TWINS TIED FOR 1ST---WOW! I'm going to tomorrow's game!

Marc McDonald said...

The Amish are about the only Christians that I have respect for these days. I find it ironic that they adhere closer to the teachings of Christ probably more than any other Christians and yet they're regarded by many other "mainstream Christians" as an eccentric cult for this very reason. Any group that rejects guns, violence and war is OK in my book.

Jack Jodell said...

You raise a very good point, as always, Mark. Many of the other denominations have wrapped themselves in a green shroud of all-out support for a "supply side Jesus" trgarding economics, while others have heartily supported our misadventure in Iraq. And virtually none of them have taken a strong or actovist stand against the immoral, exclusionary, and profiteering excesses being practiced by the health insurance/pharmaceutical complex! Disgusting, isn't it?

Vigilante said...

I want to stop long enough to point out that the reason Focus on the Family moved their offices from Pomona CA (near where I lived at that time) to Colorado Springs (where I grew up) was an office rift over adultery. Once ensconced in Colorado Springs the apostasy of adultery re-reared its ugly head again!